Nearly 6,000 people were killed in traffic accidents in Cook County between 1994 and 2008, according to a study by the Scripps Howard News Service cited by the Chicago Sun-Times. The so-called collar counties around the Chicago area (i.e. Kane County, DuPage County) had similarly high rates.
The section of Interstate 94 in Cook County was listed by the news service as the 11th most dangerous road in the US, claiming 301 lives during the 14-year study period.
Statistics compiled by Mothers Against Drunk Driving-Illinois (cited in the article) suggest that half of all drivers involved in DUI accidents have never been stopped or arrested for a DUI before.
The organization believes police are doing a fairly good job of arresting motorists on suspicion of a DUI. But Illinois DUI lawyers perhaps are doing too good of a job helping their clients, according to MADD-Illinois executive director Susan McKeighue:
"They're making the stops, writing the tickets, following the cases. But when they get to court, there's a problem. The cases get pled down."
Sun-Times reporters cite statistics showing that driving, let alone drunk driving, is the riskiest act Americans do every day and kills more people than war or terrorism.
Scripps Howard researchers used data from the US Dept. of Transportation, analyzing 562,712 fatal accidents that claimed a total of 627,433 lives between 1994 and 2008. Scripps provides an interactive map of traffic fatalities by county, including a list of roads with the highest death counts and other factors that contributed to the deaths.
But while the 32.5 percent rate of drunk driving fatalities is alarming, slightly more deaths were attributed to speeding and a whopping 64.3 percent were blamed on not using seat belts (although many of the fatalities involved a combination of those factors).
Related Resources:
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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (LawBrain)
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Driving Stoned, Carefree (Chicago Tribune)
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Double Accident Closes I-94; Minor Injuries Reported (Post-Tribune)
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Directory of Chicago DUI Lawyers (FindLaw)
